Ventura was asked about a few key matters during an interview session with White Sox beat reporters on Thursday and came up with a few pre-Spring Training solutions. The White Sox starting rotation, which looks to be one of its strongest suits, seems all but set with John Danks, Gavin Floyd, Chris Sale and Jake Peavy. According to Ventura, Philip Humber has the advantage at No. 5 over any of the young newcomers such as Nestor Molina or returnees such as Zach Stewart or Dylan Axelrod.”Phil would be that leader heading into the clubhouse,” Ventura said of Humber, whose breakout 2011 effort resulted in a 9-9 record and 3.75 ERA. “I don’t see anything changing with that at this point. We will see during Spring Training, but I’m confident in Phil in doing that No. 5 position.”Humber posted an 8-5 record with a 3.10 ERA and .218 opponents average against in the first half, but had a 1-4 mark, 5.01 ERA and .287 average against after the All-Star break.

Reliever Matt Thornton‘s season was slightly reversed, as the left-hander posted a 2.45 ERA over 52 games after May 1 following an 8.64 ERA in April. Thornton also had blown saves in his first four chances, although he didn’t have the best of luck behind him. Even with that slow start, Ventura tabbed Thornton on Thursday as his leading 2012 closer candidate over rookie Addison Reed and Jesse Crain. “I’m leaning on Matt doing that,” Ventura said. “I don’t think those type of things are concrete. I would like to see him do that, but we’ll see how that goes in Spring Training with him and how he feels.”

In Ventura’s estimation, the team doesn’t have a true utility infielder at this point. Brent Lillibridge earned high praise from Ventura for his versatility and talent, but he wasn’t identified as a possible backup shortstop. Ventura said that Alex Rios could see time in both left field and center field, and as of now, Alejandro De Aza looks to be the leadoff man. Of course, it’s just late January and things could change by the end of Cactus League action. “Gordon [Beckham] could probably do it depending on how he feels about that and how he looks in Spring Training, as far as getting on base,” Ventura said of the leadoff slot. “He has more power than normal leadoff guys, but he’s one of them.”

… Assuming the White Sox take 12 pitchers and make no further moves, one relief spot and four bench spots appear to be available. Brent Lillibridge and Tyler Flowers are certain to make the team, with Ozzie Martinez and Eduardo Escobar competing for the utility infield slot. Danks, Young, Gallagher, Bruney and Stults all have chances to compete for these final two openings.

January 14, 2012

Saturday, he said, “I know he had a hard time, saying I quit on him, which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Peavy said. “I would never quit on a team. … Ozzie didn’t finish the season with us the last (two) games. So I don’t know who quit on who.”

As J.J. says it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Peavy to say Ozzie checked out much, much earlier than the last two games.

The White Sox cleared payroll this weekend, trading Carlos Quentin and Jason Frasor to the Padres and the Blue Jays, respectively. As Eno Sarris predicted a month ago, Chicago didn’t get spectacular returns for either player. But the question still remains — why aren’t the White Sox tearing it all down and starting over? The answer might be because they can’t. …

“Ozzie didn’t care for me at the end because I was shut down,” Peavy said. “It didn’t end on good terms. The one thing about it, Coop and I have an open relationship. There was one time where I disagreed about something he said about me being on and off after coming back from the surgery, and I told him about it.

“But let’s be real: The Sox don’t win a World Series without Mark Buehrle, and look at what Coop has done over the years. It takes time to know someone. I have no problems with (Cooper).”

September 10, 2011

White Sox pitching Don Cooper and Peavy spoke to MLB.com about that decision on Saturday.

“Jake right now is shut down,” said Cooper of the right-handed starter. “The things we are looking at right now are, one, we want to win as many games as we can. Two, we want to keep everybody strong and healthy and continue to finish this season strong.”

“With the way we are playing and with how it looks for us winning, and just where we are at in the season, they made a decision to start to rest and the recovery in the offseason period and try to get strong for next year,” Peavy said.

August 8, 2011

Injuries and the shift into a tougher park in the tougher league have caused Peavy’s career to stall over the last two years or so, but he’s shown signs of getting back on track over his last four starts. He dominated the weak-hitting Twins yesterday (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K) and more than held his own against the Yankees earlier in the week (7 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K), and the good news that he’s consistently throwing 100+ pitches without showing signs of falling off in the later innings. He had a problem once his pitch count got past 75-80 earlier in the year and last season as well.

Seems like Peavy is slowly getting his strength back after last season’s injury.

… The performance of this group of players did jump quite a bit in the 2nd half of the season with the biggest increase coming in the form of power (SLG increases by 0.115 and ISO increasing by 0.086). Using these numbers to predict how the rest of the season would go, Adam Dunn would have a 2nd half triple slash line of 0.198/0.340/0.427. …

“I agree with Kenny in that we have to have more attitude,” Peavy told MLB.com. “We need a little more savvy and scrappiness. I’m saying in everything — pitching, defense, running bases, every aspect of our game. We have to find a way to play with a little more fire, a little more desire to win. I’m not saying there aren’t guys on this team who really want to win. But we need to get it in our blood. When we are at Wrigley Field, we have to flat out want to win more than the Cubs. It’s oozing out your pours. It will take a team with the talent like we have over the top.”

“The bottom line is we are four games behind a very good Detroit team. We can’t lay back. We have to show up every day, and for the next three hours, bust [our butts] and find a way to win. Get that mentality and attitude about us.”

“Physically I feel good,’’ he said two days after throwing 5 1/3 innings and 104 pitches against the Cubs. “I’m looking forward to Colorado [next start]. “Obviously, I’m not even a year out of surgery yet [July 14], and I’ve always been told that a year out of surgery you should feel close to normal and be gaining strength. I hope I’m going to get stronger, but that stuff is to be determined. Certainly, I hope I can pitch the remainder of the season healthy, or semi-healthy, and help the team win.’’

After breezing through six scoreless innings of a rehab start for Class AAA Charlotte on Thursday night, Jake Peavy appears ready to face the Cubs on Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, pitching coach Don Cooper said Friday.Manager Ozzie Guillen said the six-man starting rotation also appears to be back, probably through the All-Star break.“Without discussing it with Ozzie and [GM] Kenny [ Williams], it looks like he’s lined up for the last game against the Cubs,’’ Cooper said. “That’s unofficial, as well as the six-man rotation. But all of that is going to be discussed and probably shook out after the game today or tomorrow. We’ll talk more about it.”